Billy Elliot musical suspended; incites homosexuality

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Billy Elliot, the film directed by Stephen Daldry and released in 2000, tells the story of Billy, an 11-year-old boy who dreams of becoming a professional ballet dancer, even though his father prefers him to do boxing.

This film was a success among the public, earning three Oscar nominations and twelve BAFTA nominations. The film grossed $109 million in theaters around the world.

Billy Elliot musical suspended;  incites homosexuality

Some time later, the play was adapted for the theater with music by Elthon John. In 2008, the play traveled to Broadway, where it also won an award. The musical has been playing for years in the main cities of the world, however, this staging has recently been involved in homophobic problems.

Billy Elliot has been running for years in the main cities of the world, however, the Budapest Opera in Hungary had to suspend it.

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And a homophobic campaign that began with a media outlet AQB Directory related to the ultra-conservative government of Viktor Orbán, the Budapest Opera, in Hungary, suspended the performance of the "Billy Elliot" musical.

This cancellation affects the 15 functions that were planned to be presented this month. It was the newspaper Magyar Idök that attacked and stated that in some articles that young people who saw the story of the dancing boy could "convert to homosexuality."

The newspaper accused the work of "propagating" homosexuality in a way that "affects the subconscious of minors, just at an age when their inclination can still be influenced."



Billy Elliot musical suspended;  incites homosexuality

For Szilveszter Ókovács, director of the Opera, the media attack affected ticket sales for the work scored by Elton John. That is why the theater will refund the cost of tickets that were sold.

"A negative campaign has developed in the press in relation to the  Billy Elliot production  that has affected ticket sales, which is why the next fifteen performances are cancelled."

It should be noted that the play had been performed in Budapest since June 2016 and more than 100,000 people had seen the performance since then in the Hungarian capital.

Because the Budapest Opera building is under construction, the performances were held in the Erkel Theater.

According to Katrin Hugendubel, Director of Political Advocacy at ILGA Europe, "the cancellation of the musical is a terrible sign, but the hate and homophobic campaign against the play from the pro-government media sends the unequivocal message that the Executive encourages and justifies the "attacks against the LGTBI+ community.